Zinedine Zidane urged his France players to stay calm after their Nations League defeat to Italy and said he hoped to have Kylian Mbappé back for the final group game against Turkey.
Zidane suffered his first defeat as France coach as Les Bleus lost 3–1 at San Siro despite taking the lead through Michael Olise in the 10th minute. Mbappé missed the match with hamstring pain and stayed with the squad in the hope of being fit for Sunday.
“We need to stay calm. That’s what I told the players,” Zidane told TF1 after the match.
“We did some good things in the first half and needed to keep playing that way,” he added. “Then we struggled more in the challenges and the one-on-ones. That’s part of learning too.”
“When things got difficult, we didn’t know how to respond and we drifted away from our game plan,” he continued.
“I’m not worried. These things are part of football, and we need moments like this to learn how to respond,” Zidane said. “It’s better that it happened now. We’re still in the race to qualify.”
Asked whether Mbappé could face Turkey, Zidane said, “Of course I hope he plays. That’s why he stayed with us. I think it’s a minor injury. We’ll see how he feels tomorrow, but the plan is for him to play.”
France host Turkey in Bordeaux on Sunday and need only a draw to reach the quarter-finals. To reclaim top spot, they must better Italy’s result against Belgium. Both sides have 10 points, with Italy ahead on goal difference.
